The Last of Us: 20 Years Gone
by Ricky Duff
Summary: From father to killer, the memoirs of Joel Miller. This tells the story of what happened in the 20 years bridge between Sarah's death and the meeting between Joel and Ellie. Hopefully some people will like it!


**Editor note - This will be a story that I upload whenever I get the muse and the time, so it might not get updated at regular intervals. I'm hoping to do at least one day every few weeks or every month, but as a student in my third year of a degree, it's busy times! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first part and I hope you stick around to very end where hopefully I will have improved on this as I get more experience as I go!**

September 27th 2013

Tommy's eyes jerked open in an instant. He looked at his watch which read 11:30. How had he managed to sleep at all? Had the last night been entirely a dream? Well, more like a complete nightmare. He glanced over to his brother, Joel, tear-stained cheeks and bloody. He hadn't slept all night by the looks of it, he was still cradling Sarah's body in his arms, staring into her lifeless eyes.

He pushed his down against the floor in an effort to stand up. His back was aching from sleeping on the floor and his ears were still ringing from all the commotion from the previous night. He had let Joel take the couch, not that he had used it. They had taken refuge in a ranch owned by a woman Tommy had dated back in high school. Clearly she hadn't made it. No matter, he had thought, Joel was his concern now.

Tommy found his way to the downstairs bathroom. Oh the things that had happened in there when Amy's parents were away. A memory that seemed even further in the past after the events of last night. He soaked his face in water, welcoming the grope of the freezing cold on his skin. He shook his head and his hair fell neatly into place, which was something he had never been able to explain.

"Okay Joel. We need to leave and get as far away from the city." The words made sense when he spoke them, but he was still wrapping his head around the situation. "Joel...Joel, I need you to listen to me."

Joel sat, undisturbed.

He didn't know what to do. There was no moving a man who had just lost the centre of their world. He pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and rubbed the back of his neck with the other. He couldn't leave them, could he? No one would have any business coming into the house and as long as Joel made no noise, he could just lock himself in one of the upstairs rooms.

After some quick thinking, Tommy raided the cupboards in the kitchen and cooked up a couple of ham and cheese omelettes for the both of them. Neither of them had eaten the evening before as they had both stayed on late on a job. There was no way he was going to be on top performance on an empty stomach. Accepting Joel wasn't going to eat his after an hour of pushing, Tommy left him in the master bedroom before heading out to find someone. Anyone.

The sun was the brightest it had been in weeks. On this day, the grass seemed greener than Tommy had ever noticed it to be. What a joke to waste such a beautiful day. He opened the chamber of his revolver and counted the two bullets he had left in the wheel. "You kidding me?" A coincidence too far, he felt.

He had two options. Head to the next farm on, or search for help closer to the city, near the bridge. He didn't like the sound of the former, that would be the plan once he could get Joel to move. No, it had to be the latter. He would have to be careful, seeing what the soldiers had been ordered to do last night, who knew what dangers would be waiting for him at the bridge.

The bridge was an hours walk from the ranch and when it finally came into Tommy's sight, the first thing he noticed were the three soldiers in riot gear standing at the entrance talking amongst themselves. Knowing he was going to get nowhere by approaching them, he turned around to the building behind him,_ Joe 'n' Son's Grillhouse_. The first thing he noticed was the bar at the other side of the room.

He pushed a glass up against the Bourbon in the optics and crushed some ice to put in. Priorities. Funny how indescribably amazing something tastes after you've stared death in the red, glowing eyes.

"You going to pay for that?" A voice came from the door to the left, which Tommy assumed was where the stairs leading to the living area were. He swung his head around and was greeted by a young, Australian man in dreads, no older than 25 he guessed.

"So, are you Joe, or his son?" Is all he managed, wary.

"Neither, my name's Josh and my wife is pregnant so I'd appreciate it if you didn't ring the dinner bell for those...things." The man's eyes darted from Tommy's face to the revolver on the bar and back again. "You're not a rioter or anything are you? I don't want any trouble."

"I'm not after it. I was hoping to get over the bridge, maybe find some people. At least one of them was a success." Tommy poured another Bourbon and offered it to the man. "Tommy."

Josh smiled, finally. "No thanks, I'm more of a scotch man."

"Same as my brother. Not real men." Tommy said, a slight laugh escaping his lips.

"Come upstairs, meet the missus." Josh beckoned for Tommy to follow, which he did.

In stark contrast to the dark oak furnished bar downstairs, the upstairs lounge was much more modern, with leather couches and wicker chairs. Somehow he had never managed to get around to eating here, but by the looks of it, Joe and his sons weren't hard off. Across the room on one of the couches was a bright, ginger haired woman, sweating in the heat, yet still pale and attractive.

"This is Roz, and darling, this is Tommy. He was just having a glass of Dutch courage before trying to cross the bridge." Josh announced, striding over to his heavily pregnant wife and wrapping his arm around her.

Tommy nodded a greeting.

"Cross the bridge?" She repeated. "Everyone who has tried to get into the city has been shot dead the second they sneak past the border."

"How have you two stay hidden?"

Josh had the answer instantly. "They don't bother with us. I heard them talking this morning, we're outside their jurisdiction. As long as we're out here and not in there, they have no say in what we do. We would be further away, but we can't move now, not with Roz in this state. If I die, who'll take care of her when its time?"

"As long as we get to the next town, we're safe, right?" Tommy couldn't understand why the other two were so worried. The next town was only a couple of hours walk away.

"How do you not know? The whole of Texas has experienced the same as us. The radio said the military were setting up an evacuation site in Houston and that everyone in Texas should head there for immediate safety." Roz said, cradling her swollen stomach.

"Housten? That's only a two hour drive." Tommy considered how easy it would be to get there, but then stopped and remembered Joel and Sarah. If he knew Joel at all, there was no moving that man right now. It was the same as when their Mother passed away back in 2005. Joel had shut down completely for four whole months, a quarter of a year. His wife left him after that and Tommy had ended up moving in and looking after Sarah temporarily, who was four years old at the time. "I won't lie to you folks, I have a brother who lost his daughter last night. He's staying at the Knoxville ranch just up the road a ways. He's in a bad way."

"He's not-"

"Dangerous? He's pretty calm most of the time, but I've known him to take hits from men twice his size and get back to his feet to try again." He let out a slight chuckle, surprising himself. "Well, that was at high school. You'll be safe, he's usually a nice man, don't worry."

By the time the three of them had set off back to the ranch, it was the mid-afternoon. There was a slight chill in the air by the time they had left, the hairs on Tommy's neck stood to attention to it, unnerving him somewhat. The journey was longer due to Roz only being able to make a slight waddle as not to wear herself out or hurt herself. If it was hard enough just walking unaided, how would things go were they attacked by those insane people, or whatever they were.

"So you're telling me this ranch has a working television and you haven't tried it all?" Josh's voice was tiny now they had left behind the outskirts of Austin, the only thing besides each other for company was the grass.

Tommy reiterated for what felt like the hundredth time, "We weren't exactly thinking of the damn TV when we got there." He stopped, causing the other two to stop as well. "I'm being nice to you folk because I know my brother might not be. But think when you speak and you'll get far with us." He didn't want to sound stern, but it needed to be said.

"He knows," Roz gave her partner a soft thump on the leg, "we're sorry. We can do just that when we arrive."

Tommy powered ahead the rest of the walk. He was sure the couple were talking about him, muffled talking, but he couldn't be sure, neither did he really care.

After roughly 90 minutes of walking, longer than the walk there due to the breaks they had to take for Roz's sake, the small group found themselves at the Knoxville Ranch. The ranch house stood in all its glory, bright white wooden panels reflecting off the sun, a tire swing hanging off the monster of an oak tree which stood next to it. Tommy hadn't seen it look this glorious for years. It had been too dark to pay any notice last night, as well as the situation that was at hand.

"Holy shit." He took in air and let out a sigh, a sigh that felt more of relief than ever taken before.

"Joel!" Tommy called as he entered the house, making room for the Josh and Roz. "Joel, it's me, are you up there?" No answer.

He leapt up the stairs three at a time, filled with worry over what his brother might have done in his absence. Coming towards the master bedroom, the door was locked. Tommy knocked once, knocked twice and knocked a third time but none of them gained an answer. Saying no words and with all force, Tommy kicked at lock and the door swung open, helpless. It was not what he expected inside. In his mind had raced images of Joel sitting by the bed with his wrists gashed open, or with a bullet through his head. The last one was especially stupid as Tommy had taken the only gun they had. Instead, his brother was sat by the bed, but his wrists were fine and he was wearing fresh clothes found in the wardrobe. Sarah's corpse was laid down on the bed, her wound cleaned up and in a clean shirt.

"I couldn't leave here looking like that," was the only thing his brother said, nodding furiously. Tommy went straight in for a hug, consoling Joel, who no longer had tears to wipe off.

"Look, Joel, I have a couple of people downstairs who I met when I was out. They're good people. They know what we have to do-"

"Not now." His brother cut him off.

"Joel, it's important. I know-"

"I said not now."

Joel's eyes on Tommy almost hurt. He hadn't seen this since their mother passed away. But even then it had never been as severe. There was nothing he could do but submit. "Okay."

"Close the door on your way out." Joel fixed his gaze back on his dead daughter.

Tommy left it at that. He had no desire to rattle the lion's cage. He was going to have to make the others wait until Joel was well enough to leave. When that time was to come was anybody's guess.

"Well, are we going to meet him?" Josh was in the kitchen, raiding the fridge for anything to eat. "Wait, has this place got any pickles? Pregnancy does wicked things to our relationship." He smiled over to Roz, who was sat on the couch, stroking her stomach.

"No."

"What, no pickles? Don't lie to me man, she can get pretty vicious!"

"No, Joel isn't coming down tonight. He needs more time."

"Well, he needs to be ready by the morning, there's no way we're staying here any longer than we need to." Josh said, sourcing a jar of pickles from the cupboard above the sink.

"And you're a psychiatrist now, are you? Think you know what that man is going through?"

Roz stood up, almost as though she knew it was her moment to diffuse the tension. Again. "Honey. Baby, Tommy has let us into, well not his house, but he has let us into his life." She took her partner's hand. "After last night, that's a massive thing. Remember our motto, if it harms no other do as you will? Well let's not harm his trust before we really all get to know each other." She let go of his hand and wrenched the pickles from the other. "Besides, I can't go a day without these beauties."

Tommy let another smile creep out. He could already tell Roz was the sensible one of the two. He liked that, he could see how they worked.

After that, the day was quiet. The electrics had stopped working, and they resigned themselves to telling stories and laughing at their pasts to eventually settling down and reading until dusk. Eventually night rolled in and, to the surprise of Tommy, they fell into a slumber with ease.


End file.
